A-H Authors

Brown and colleagues claim that the most effective learning strategies are not intuitive — we’ve pretty much been perpetuating wrong strategies that feel right but do not lead to long-term learning. This very accessible book will reveal the keys to acquiring mastery in any subject.

If you don’t already own this book buy it. This book builds upon evidenced based findings for designing education and maximizing visuals to deepen learning. How do you use visuals to support the learning process? How can you visualize lesson content? How do you plan and communicate your content visually? Answers are inside. You can’t borrow my copy – get your own 🙂

​New to instructional design? You’re good at something and now you’ve been asked to train others how to do it? This book has got you covered with design fundamentals and examples to get you started. The 2nd edition features new chapters on designing for habits, social and informal learning, and designing evaluations.

Duarte offer a new slide ideology in this book that is a must for anyone creating visual presentations. I love her presentation ecosystem diagram on page 11. The sections on creating movement, creating diagrams and best options for displaying data are indespensible.

Duarte cracks the code behind crafting presentations that result in meanful change — it all comes down to how ideas are presented. Her approach to persuasion and the art of storytelling can transform learning designs from recitations of fact to meaningful experiences.

The authors of this book cover visual communication, design and layout for print and electronic projects. I enjoyed their chapters on infographics and storyboarding. Three key themes that stuck out for me: find out what 4 things effective graphic design does for the viewer (your learner), the 3 design building blocks you must be using, and a word on learning the rules before breaking the rules of good graphic design.

I-Q Authors

Think information design has no bearing on education design? Think again! As Lipton states: “Information design is the study and practice of bringing clarity and comprehsibility to visual materials that are meant to direct, teach, explain, or otherwise inform.” Great insights and examples that inspire.

I love this book! This is an in-depth treatment on how the brain processes visual information and the challenges this presents to anyone designing visual content – whether for learners, marketing, infographics or data displays. Rich with beautiful examples of best practices – you’ll be inspired to up your game. Want to know how to maximize visual cues in your presentations? Intersted to know how your visuals contribute to or maximize cognitive load? Curious about where to start when visualizing data? Malamed knows.

​Malamed’s second book adapts many of the concepts presented in Visual Language for Designers for the learning design context. You don’t have to be an artist to benefit from this highly accessible book. Malamed offers a graphic design 101 foundation culminating in Power Principles that will amp up the effectiveness of your visual design for courses.

Medina is a molecular biologist and his book sheds light on why our brains do the things they do — which leads to insights in harnessing its power. He has published an updated edition and offers a ton of video and downloadable content on his website www.brainrules.net. Very insightful work. Quick read.

Interface design makes or breaks an online learning experience. Dorian’s book outlines this subdiscipline and what you need to know to create an effective learner-centered design. She challenges us to shift from a UX perspective to an LX perspective — designing interactive learning interfaces that enhance the learning process. Very accessible guide.

Pollock, Roy; Jefferson, Andrew; Wick, Calhoun. (2015) The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training & Development into Business Results. Wiley.

This is the 3rd Edition of the 6 D’s and a worthwile read. Even though the authors direct the content toward corporate training in particular, the concepts apply broadly to adult learning design. They dedicate a large portion of the book to the greatest gap in continuing education: learning transfer and performance support. What happens after a learning event? According to these authors, the real learning. Also worthwhile is their approach to evaluating programs – moving beyond reaction scores to metrics that will inform future decisions about improving or retiring programs.

R-Z Authors

Ratey, John J., M.D. (2001) A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain. Vintage Books: New York.

Dr. Ratey is a clinical psychologist at Harvard Medical School. The book describes basic structures and chemistry of the brain – and how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions and behavior. Reads more like a textbook but good info.

Garr boils presentation design down to three phases: preparation, design, and delivery … and he offers key insights within each that will help you create more effective presentatons. He addresses pictorial superiority effect — which is key for education designers. All learners prioritize visual input; how you visually represent your content matters.

Rosenberg addresses integrating eLearning into organization training and development. In fact, part 3 specifically discusses the organizational requirements to implement eLearning. Also insightful: Rosenberg calls out the distinctions between instruction and information and touches on the role of knowledge management.

Sousa is an EdD, an international consultant in educational neuroscience and member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society. This book is a collection of essays on research findings and applications in education. Very academic.

Tokuhama-Espinosa discusses the emerging field of neuroeducation and the three parent disciplines: neurology, psychology and education. She touches on the difficulties translating findings between disciplines because of differing terminology and methodologies. Great references list if you want to mine the origins of this interdiciplinary field. She offers a taste of this work on John’s Hopkins U site: Why Mind, Brain, Education Science is the “New” Brain Based.

Zull, James E. (2002) The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning. Stylus Publishing, LLC: Sterling, VA.

Zull is a biologist and he discusses the application of neurobiology and neuroscience to education practice. He touches on brain structure as an introduction to understanding the learning brain – such as why environment and emotion figure so prominently, the essential role of prior knowledge, and how what we now know about plasticity challenges a lot of old education practices. Ultimately, he points out, learning changes the physical brain.

Zull, James E. (2011) From Brain to Mind: Using Neuroscience to Guide Change in Education. Stylus Publishing, LLC: Sterling, VA.

Zull came out with a new work in 2011 challenging educators to apply the concepts he has researched and presented to engender deep change in how we approach learners. He delves into how technology has forever changed the learning landscape and how educators need to respond to it.

Meet Tracy King

As Chief Learning Strategist & Founder of InspirEd, Tracy leverages her more than 17 years in the education industry for organizations interested in increasing their relevance and revenue with meaningful live, online, and mobile learning programs. Tracy specializes in the intersection of learning science and technology. She's a thought leader in education strategy and learning experience design. Learn more at www.inspired-ed.com